Exploring the Role of Sustainability Committees in Carbon Performance: Evidence From ASEAN-5 for Good or for Worse?

This study investigates the impact of sustainability committees (SCs) on corporate carbon performance in ASEAN-5, based on 1033 firm-year observations from 2018 to 2023. Utilizing panel regression with robustness checks including coarsened exact matching (CEM), propensity score matching (PSM), and Heckman Two-Stage regression, the results indicate a negative association between SC presence and carbon performance. Firms with SCs tend to disclose higher emissions, driven by enhanced transparency and legitimacy-seeking behavior, rather than actual reductions in carbon output. This tendency is more evident in environmentally sensitive industries, while the influence of SCs remains limited in non-sensitive sectors. Country-specific contexts and emission scopes (Scopes 1 and 2) further shape the effectiveness of SCs. These findings underscore the largely symbolic role of SCs at the sub-board level and emphasize the need for firms and policymakers to enhance SC capacity to drive meaningful carbon reductions in ASEAN's emerging markets.